A suit has been filed on the behalf of a man from Berkeley County, South Carolina who died from the personal injuries he sustained when he was assaulted while serving a prison sentence. The suit alleges negligence on the part of state prison officials for their failure to protect 20-year-old Daniel Preston Walker from the extortion scheme that resulted in his death.

Walker was merely less than two years into his 20-year sentence for his role in a fatal shooting when he died on June 24, 2006 in Lee Correctional Institution. According to reports, he was beaten and smothered in the prison in Bishopville, South Carolina. No suspects have been publicly named in the case.

Walker’s mother, Alice Walker, filed the suit against the South Carolina Department of Corrections, prison warden Anthony Padula, and other employees of the Lee County lockup yet to be identified. The suit was filed on June 20 in the Third Circuit Court of Common Pleas.

The suit alleges wrongful death, negligence, negligent hiring of employees, and deprivation of constitutional rights on the part of the officials. Specifically the suit claims that the officials failed to properly supervise inmates in order to prevent assaults, failure to properly staff the prison dorm in which Walker died, failure to have adequate video surveillance and other monitoring procedures in place, failure to separate Walker from other inmates after threats had been received, and failure to provide proper medical care after Walker had been assaulted.

The suit seeks damages of an unspecified amount to be determined by a jury.

The suit claims that Walker was the victim of an extortion scheme run by other inmates which had the tacit approval or one or more guards. The suit alleges Walker requested transfer from the wing he was in, but the request was denied.